<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Not All Prisons Have Bars: Marichat May 2020 by seasonofthegeek</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23996551">Not All Prisons Have Bars: Marichat May 2020</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasonofthegeek/pseuds/seasonofthegeek'>seasonofthegeek</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - No Miraculous, Pandemic - Freeform, Scientific Testing, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, trying to rescue each other, two pining idiots falling for each other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:27:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,137</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23996551</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasonofthegeek/pseuds/seasonofthegeek</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Marinette discovers her blood has antibodies for a cure to help those fallen ill from a global virus, she volunteers to go to a scientific center in Japan to be studied. Little does she know that one of her fellow volunteers' story about a witch cursing black cats to spread the virus turns about to have more truth to it than one would think and the cure being created isn't just for those who have the virus.</p><p>Written for Marichat May 2020</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>75</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Witch</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just something that came to me with all the virus stuff going around. Decided to try to work out some of my frustrations by writing a story in a different flavor of the same idea. This will be one of those where the details unfold more as the story goes on. :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marinette wasn’t sure why she’d been expecting a completely white room that screamed sterilization but the cozy suite she’d been led to looked more like it’d fit into any mid-level hotel and that surprised her. </p><p>The bed was large and covered in a soft flower-patterned quilt. Lamps glowed around the room instead of a harsh overhead light, and she spied a a small private bathroom beside an empty closet. There was a decent television and a computer which was a nice bonus. The large heart monitor in the corner by an overstuffed armchair seemed a bit out of place, but otherwise, the room was nothing like she’d imagined. </p><p>“Feel free to unpack and get comfortable. A nurse will be by to do a vitals check in an hour or so and then it will be time for dinner.” The orderly gave her a smile that seemed a little too professional to be genuine and then closed the door.</p><p>Marinette counted to ten in her head and then tried to turn the doorknob. The latch gave and the door opened slightly as she pulled. She let out a sigh of relief as it closed again and turned to give her new home a more thorough inspection. </p><p>Her mind wandered as she made her way around the room. She wasn’t sure what she would’ve done if she’d been locked in. Nothing, she supposed. She’d come here of her own free will, after all.</p><p>When she found out she was one of only three people discovered whose blood carried antibodies that could be used to fight the current virus ravaging the world, what choice did she really have but to agree to help? She’d never consider herself a hero, but she was a decent person, at least. She wanted to do what she could even if coming here had turned her life on its head. </p><p>She squinted at the buttons on the heart monitor but besides the obvious ones, she was at a loss. She wondered if she’d have to wear something constantly since the big machine was in her room. </p><p>There were times like this when Marinette thought she might wake up from a weird dream at any moment. It felt like one day, everything was as normal as it’d always been and then the next...</p><p>She shook her head. She didn’t like thinking about the virus but there would be no avoiding it now. She’d packed a bag and moved in right at the epicenter. She may as well try to accept her new normal.<br/>___</p><p>Marinette tried her hardest not to fiddle with the heart monitor around her wrist as she sat at the dinner table in the mostly empty dining room. A woman sat on her left down a few chairs and a young boy sat directly across from her, studying her with curious eyes magnified by large glasses. </p><p>“Are you here to beat the witch too?” he finally asked. The way he drawled out his words even in his rushed question had her wondering where in the world he was from. Somewhere in the United States, she would guess from the English. They were both far from home then. She was glad she at least understood him.</p><p>“The witch?”</p><p>He nodded seriously. “My best friend, Peter, well, his mom says there is the real mean witch out somewhere and she made all these black cats out of bad magic that ran all over the world to get people sick. And there are only a few people in the world who have magic blood that can make the cats better and beat the witch and I have magic blood so I’m going to beat the witch.” He warily glanced down the table at the other woman and lowered his voice. “So do you have magic blood too?”</p><p>Marinette wasn’t sure if it was cute or disturbing that someone had explained the pandemic to the child in such a way but he seemed happy about it and she  didn’t want to scare him.</p><p>“I think I might,” she said, dropping her volume to a conspiratorial whisper to match his. “It’s pretty cool, right?”</p><p>“Yeah! My room has the new PlayStation. I don’t even have one of those at home. My brother is going to be so jealous.” He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms smugly. He opened his mouth again but he was interrupted by an orderly dressed in crisp blue scrubs placing a plate in front of him. </p><p>“Please make sure to eat everything on your plate. A clean plate is a happy plate and we like to see happy plates,” the woman said as she put the next plate in front of Marinette. </p><p>The young boy scrunched his nose and poked at the steamed broccoli with his fork. “I’m not eating this.”</p><p>“Even if it makes your magic stronger?” Marinette asked, spearing a floret.</p><p>He frowned and followed her lead. “Being a hero is hard work.”<br/>___</p><p>On the other side of the facility and three floors below what was thought to be the basement, Chat Noir paced the small cell he was in. His stomach was growling and his head ached so he knew dinner had to be coming soon. That was how he’d been trying to keep track of time. He was fed breakfast and dinner. Lunch was always a fun combination of being mostly drained of blood and filled with some new mixture of chemicals that usually left him jittery or sleepy or both. </p><p>His black ears perked at the sound of the hallway door being opened and he obediently went to sit on his bed with his hands spread out in front of him as he’d done ever since he realized it was expected. His fluffy black tail lashed back and forth against the blanket but he rarely could control what the thing did anyway. </p><p>The vision bar slid open and Chat Noir saw a familiar set of kind gray eyes look in on him through the protective glass. “Hungry?” a voice asked through an intercom. </p><p>“Like you wouldn’t believe.”</p><p>There was a grunting chuckle and a few digital beeps and then the door was opening. The hulking man on the other side moved into the door frame with a tray in one of his massive hands and a cattle prod in the other. He sheepishly dropped the arm with the prod with a shrug and slid the tray onto the table. </p><p>“It’s okay,” Chat Noir said with half a smile. “I get it.”</p><p>“Not worried,” the man replied, voice muffled by his mask. “You’re a good kid.”</p><p>“Not really a kid.”</p><p>“Still good.” The big man shrugged again and half-glanced behind him. “Extra protein bar.” He winked and then began to back up.</p><p>Chat Noir could see two other orderlies behind him, electric prods raised tensely. He ignored them. “Thanks,I  appreciate it, Pierce.”</p><p>Pierce gave him another grunt and then the door was closing again. </p><p>He waited until he couldn’t make out any other sounds and then he went to the table and forced himself to eat the meal slowly. He found he stayed full faster when he did, but it was a hard lesson to learn. </p><p>He hid the extra protein bar between two of the books on his table for later. He never noticed his books moved when he slept so they always seemed like a safe enough place to keep things.  </p><p>After he finished his meal, he went to the opposite wall and used his pointed claw to scratch another notch into the blindingly white painted surface. He looked up the long line of scratch marks but didn’t bother trying to tally them. </p><p>It didn’t really matter how long he’d been kept in this room. </p><p>He never planned on ever leaving.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Bell</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It took a little over a week living in the facility, but Marinette was finally starting to feel comfortable with her new routine. An alarm woke her up early-- which wasn’t her favorite thing but she was learning to deal-- and she was escorted downstairs to breakfast in the dining hall with Ozzie, the little boy she’d met her first day, and Nathalie, the other woman who’d yet to say a word to either of them. </p><p>After breakfast, they were split up once more for specific physical activities and testing, a round of blood work, and then brought back together for lunch again. Ozzie would tell Marinette all about his family and friends and how he liked to collect bugs and Nathalie would sit as far from them as she could, keeping to herself and eating in silence. </p><p>She had free time after lunch to spend in her room or out in a courtyard and then there was more testing and blood work. </p><p>It was an odd routine, but it was one Marinette was becoming accustomed to all the same. </p><p>The hardest part was the loneliness starting to settle in the pit of her stomach. While Ozzie made for entertaining company, he was a eight-year old boy. Their meal conversations of witches and black cats were amusing but she missed her friends. </p><p>She had access to the internet in her room for an hour at night which was hardly enough time to do more than video chat with her parents and then Alya before she lost her connection again. Thankfully Alya had been sending her emails with PDFs of fan fiction to download so at least she had plenty to keep her from being bored. it still wasn’t quite enough though...</p><p>“Have you tried talking to that Nathalie lady? You said she’s older, right?” Alya chewed on the end of pen from the other side of the screen. “I can’t believe Nino is about to have a degree in engineering and still can’t spell for his life. I’ve had to start printing off this stuff just so I can show him what corrections need to be done to his papers.” She made a loud marking sound on the paper with the pen and then returned in to her mouth.</p><p>Marinette fiddled with the ends of her hair as she watched the screen. “I don’t know. She’s not like old-old. She’s just older than us, and she makes it clear she doesn’t want to talk so it doesn’t seem worth it. And be nice to Nino.”</p><p>“I’m very nice to Nino.” Alya waggled her eyebrows before frowning and making another mark on the paper.</p><p>“Gross, Al.” A high-pitched alarm bell rang on the screen and Marinette checked the time and sighed. She <i>hated</i> that bell. “Hey, I better go so I can call my parents before I run out of time. Same time tomorrow night?”</p><p>“I’ll be here, babe. And hey.” The other woman gave the screen her full attention. “Seriously ask them why you can’t have more than an hour of internet. That’s, like, criminal in this day and age. I miss you.”</p><p>“I miss you too.” She felt her heart clench. “And thanks for the new stories. You’re really saving my life here.”</p><p>“You’re the one saving everyone’s lives. Be careful. Love you.”</p><p>“Love you too.” They smiled at each other and then the call ended. The lonely feeling was still there but it didn’t feel quite as heavy now. That was something at least.<br/>___</p><p>“I feel different...” Chat Noir tried fight against the warmth filling his chest as the doctor inserted another needle in his arm.</p><p>“Different how?” a nurse asked, tone nothing but clinical.</p><p>“War....m....” His tongue felt heavy and he couldn’t keep his eyes open. His body was yelling at him to fight back but he really wanted to wrap the feeling around him like a comfy blanket. All his previous injections had been some cocktail of turning his skin to fire or his blood to ice. But this was something all together different.</p><p>Something...nice?</p><p>“Please be more specific.”</p><p>He frowned and swallowed, trying to force his mouth into forming words. Instead, a sweet sensation ghosted along his taste buds and he swallowed again, searching for more. “Sweet...”</p><p>“Sweet? As in a taste?”</p><p>“Mmm.”</p><p>“Number oh-one-three, please describe what you are feeling in the appropriate way.” The clinical voice had an edge to it now but he couldn’t be bothered by that.</p><p>The sweet taste was still filling his mouth and now he was sure he smelled freshly baked bread every time he inhaled. Whatever it was that they gave him, he needed more. This was the most amazing thing he’d ever felt, even before his current condition.</p><p>Voices murmured around them and he knew they were probably aimed in his direction but he didn’t try to decipher them. The warmth floated his body up above the hard metal table he was on and wrapped him up in a feeling he never wanted to lose.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Mouse</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chat Noir paced his room in agitation. His skin was tingling in quite an unpleasant way and it felt as if he could actually feel where the hair and fur follicles were buried in his pores. His hearing was so sensitive that even the sound of the quiet mouse that lived in his wall was too much to handle. His fangs ached and the nail beds of his claws itched. He hadn’t felt this awful since...</p><p>The sobering memory of his last great pain filled his mind so abruptly that all of his current annoyances dulled. </p><p>The day he’d been turned into a monster probably trumped how he was feeling now.</p><p>Try as he might, Chat Noir couldn’t remember for the life of him who he was before that day. Names, faces, places...all of it erased in the span of hours or days or weeks. He honestly wasn’t sure how long it took for his transformation to take hold but he knew he hadn’t finished. He’d seen the others before him turned into massive hulking black beasts with glowing eyes and heavy fur. He got out before he’d completely disappeared into the terrifying monster they were trying to make him.</p><p>He shivered as the old fear ran through him as if it was all happening again. He’d taken a chance, used his compliant nature to his advantage, and attacked his jailer when the opportunity arose. He ran until he couldn’t run anymore and then he’d stayed hidden, scared of anyone to see him and scared of what he might do to anyone he saw. He could no longer trust himself because who he was now was a stranger.</p><p>And that’s when he was captured again.</p><p>A full body shudder ran through him and Chat Noir threw himself down on his hard cot. He peeked out from the blond and black hair that fell across his face and started to count the tally marks on the wall, one for each day he’d been in his new prison. </p><p>He was getting close to a year now as long as his method of marking two meals as one day was correct. It felt like much longer.</p><p>With his mind less occupied with the past, his current ailments floated to the forefront of his thoughts again. Whatever he’d been injected with the day before had been so incredibly different than everything else he’d experienced since he’d been there. He usually fluctuated between pain and nothingness but that had been...</p><p>It had been amazing.</p><p>And he needed more.</p><p>That’s what was happening to him. He was going through withdrawals. No one had come to get him for testing like usual between breakfast and dinner and Pierce only gave him a sad look when he asked why while his dinner was being served. </p><p>Had he failed some kind of test? Were they not going to try to cure him anymore?</p><p>The mouse in the wall began to scratch again and Chat Noir groaned and covered his ears, though it did very little to soften the sound. </p><p>He wanted to feel warm again and he wanted to smell bread and taste sweetness. </p><p>He needed it.</p><p>“Please,” he whispered into the empty room.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Thief</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marinette paced her room anxiously. Close to an hour had passed since she’d been hurried away from the dining room by a tight-lipped orderly and told she would be locked in her room until further notice. He said it was for her safety but she was having a hard time being content with that explanation.</p><p>Her internet hadn’t connected like usual either, leaving her to pace or watch television and she had too much nervous energy to work out to not keep moving. </p><p>The whole day had been odd. She’d been taken to testing and blood work before breakfast and had even more testing done during lunch, where she was served in the lab. The nurse drawing her blood commented on the extra large slice of chocolate cake on her waiting tray as if it was some kind of equal exchange for being used as a pin cushion for hours. They’d also taken more blood than they usually did, leaving her feeling slightly woozy and weak the remainder of the day. The nurse kept joking about being a thief with all the blood she was taking, but Marinette hadn’t bothered laughing.</p><p>And then there’d been dinner...</p><p>Marinette shivered and curled up at the headboard of the bed, pulling the blankets up around her as high as she could. In her mind, she could still hear the sound of Nathalie coughing and choking just before the convulsions started. Everything happened so quickly and she caught Ozzie’s terrified eyes as his caretaker whisked him away from the dining room as quickly as the orderly did with Marinette. </p><p>Maybe she’d gotten the virus, but it didn’t make sense. The three of them had been brought here because their blood could supposedly help with a cure. How could Nathalie have gotten sick with what she should be able to make better?</p><p>The lamps around the room flickered in unison and a tinny alarm sounded down the hall. Marinette’s skin flushed cold and she pulled the blankets even closer. She had no idea where she was outside this building other than the fact that she was in another country and very far from home. She would sit and wait until she knew what was going on. It was the smart thing to do.</p><p>The lights flickered again once, twice, and then there was a temporary darkness before one single dim light shone near the door. The power had gone out.</p><p>She swallowed hard and listened for any indication of what was going on. She could still hear the alarm down the hall but there was silence otherwise. She didn’t even know if Ozzie or Nathalie’s suites were on the same hall as hers or if she was truly alone until someone came for her.</p><p>An unusual popping sound and shuffling in the far left corner grabbed her attention and her heart leapt into her throat when she found two glowing green eyes staring at her from the darkness.</p><p>“It’s you,” a voice said softly, almost reverently, as the eyes widened. “You’re the smell...the taste.”</p><p>Her fear spiked as the eyes moved a little closer. “Don’t...don’t come closer!” she warned. “You shouldn’t be here.” Her voice wavered but she kept her eyes narrowed to show she was serious. She didn’t want to fight whatever had gotten in her room but she knew she had nowhere to run. She would do what she had to do.</p><p>The eyes tilted and she could almost make out the face that held them. “You’re scared. Of course you’re scared.” The creature moved back into the darkness, obscuring what little she could make out.  “I’m really sorry. I was just trying to find you, but this was a bad idea.”</p><p>“Find me? Why?”</p><p>There was a blink. “You made things better. Or...” The voice trailed off and was followed by an agitated growl. “I don’t know how to explain it. It doesn’t make sense. I broke the rules. I’m sorry.” The head turned and the corner began to grow darker.</p><p>“Wait!” Marinette fought with the covers as she moved a little further down the bed. “Who are you? I think you’ve gotten me confused with someone else.”</p><p>There was a soft laugh that didn’t fit the ominous vibe of the dark corner. “My nose doesn’t lie, Princess. I’m sorry for scaring you.” </p><p>Another static popping sound occurred and then the corner was nothing but darkness and she knew the man...thing with the glowing eyes was gone. The lights flickered back on and the gentle hum of the private air conditioning came back like a roaring thing.</p><p>Marinette stared in wonder at the now lit corner and the small tuft of black fur that had been left on the smooth hardwood floor.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Dare</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chat Noir teleported back into his room and let out a sigh of relief that it wasn’t filled with security. Maybe they hadn’t gotten to him yet. He’d never been sure if his call sign of “oh-one-three” meant he was the thirteenth beast they had or if he was the only one and a scientist thought it funny to name their black cat after unlucky number thirteen, but either way, his little bit of good luck seemed to be holding for him at the moment.</p><p>He hadn’t actually meant to set off alarms and turn the facility on its head. He only wanted to find the source of warmth he’d been longing for since his last injection over a week ago. He’d gone through awful withdrawals with painful and terrifying visions but he’d come through it with a clear mind, and surprisingly, the use of the powers he’d thought were long gone.</p><p>When he’d been taken the first time and began his transformation, his senses had changed. His eyesight was stronger, even more so in the dark. His hearing was more acute, and his sense of direction more precise. There was also the superhuman strength, the fangs, the claws, the ability to teleport, and the ability to call a destructive power to his hands that scared him worse than anything else. He could’ve done without that power coming back but he would be careful.</p><p>It was an accident, realizing his powers had come back online. He’d honestly thought they were gone for good after he’d lost them in the first few weeks in the facility but they were back and he was finding it hard not to use them.</p><p>When he’d first been imprisoned here, he accepted it. He hated what he’d become. He hated what he could possibly do to others. And he took whatever the doctors and scientists did to him because he felt like he deserved it for what he’d been turned into.</p><p>But now...</p><p>But now he knew there was something alive and wonderful here and he needed more of it. He wanted to roll around in the feeling of warmth he’d had before. He wanted to taste sweetness on his tongue again and fill his belly with it until it was ready to burst. He wanted his senses to be overrun with the smell of freshly baked bread again. </p><p>He wanted it. </p><p>He needed it.</p><p>And now he had a way to look for it if he dared.</p><p>It was quick, little bursts of teleporting at first. He would zip from his room to the closest place he could sense and back in the blink of an eye. He waited days for something to happen from his little act being caught on camera but nothing changed. Everything was business as usual, or his new usual with no new injections and being stuck in his room constantly.</p><p>So he got braver.</p><p>He started exploring other parts of the facility when security was lighter at night. He found himself going up higher into the building when he found he was being kept deep underground. He always made his trips quick, under a minute or two. He never wanted to be caught. He didn’t want to do anything wrong, he was just...curious.</p><p>Curious if he could find the source of warmth again.</p><p>And then he sensed it. He sensed her. </p><p>He wished he could’ve been quieter. Maybe he could’ve watched her for a moment, eased her into the fact that a monster was in her room.</p><p>The power outage hadn’t helped though. He still wasn’t sure if that was his fault. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was.</p><p>Chat Noir paced his small room. Should he stay? What if someone realized he was the cause of everything happening? Where would he possibly go though? He remembered waking up in a tranquilizer haze while on a plane before being dosed again so he surely wasn’t anywhere close to where he’d been before all this happened.</p><p>And she was still here so he couldn’t very well leave.</p><p>He wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted with her. He’d been surprised when his senses led him to a person instead of a serum but maybe he’d just been in the wrong part of the facility. Maybe he could find the serum they’d given him before and never have to bother her again.</p><p>But he really, really wanted to bother her again.</p><p>Something about her excited him. Maybe it was the way she’d gone from cowering in her blankets to ready to fight even though she was obviously scared. Maybe it was how blue her eyes were even in the darkness. Maybe he was just lonely...</p><p>He could hear voices now and they sounded angry. They were coming for him then. </p><p>Did he dare do what his heart was urging him to?</p><p>He grabbed the few books he had in his possession and forced them into his pillowcase, hugging the lumpy pillow to his chest. He caught sight of Pierce’s shocked eyes through the small rectangular window in his door just before he teleported away.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Baton</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“It’s almost been five days. I’d really like to know something more than ‘It’s best for me to remain in my suite’,” Marinette said sharply, glaring at the nurse filling her doorframe. “Is Nathalie okay? What about Ozzie? I feel like you guys are trying to hold me hostage here.”</p><p>The woman looked back at her with obvious agitation. “Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I will not tell you again.” She made a show of dropping her hand to the baton at her hip, showing the young woman a side of the facility she hadn’t seen yet. “Please back away from the door so that I can secure it properly.” She ground her teeth together. “For your own safety.”</p><p>A fearful but harsh reply was on the tip of Marinette’s tongue when she heard an eerily familiar popping noise behind her in the room. She tried not to let her surprise show as she slowly stepped away from the door and crossed her arms. “Fine.”</p><p>The nurse didn’t give her a second glance as she pulled the door shut with more firmness than was strictly necessary.</p><p>Marinette spun on her heels as her eyes darted around the room to look for the creature that made the sound she’d heard. “I know you’re here,” she said, keeping her voice calm as she ventured forward a few steps. “I heard that popping bubble sound you make when you teleport. That’s what you’re doing, right? Teleporting?”</p><p>There was a long pause and then she saw two glowing green eyes watching her from the far corner of the room where the shadows cut down just right to keep him hidden.</p><p>“I make a sound?” he asked, surprised. “I thought I was being super stealthy. That kinda sucks actually.”</p><p>She wasn’t sure why his reaction was so endearing but she felt her guard slip even as she moved to her bed and perched on the edge. “I wasn’t sure you would come back.”</p><p>“I wasn’t either,” the voice in the darkness responded. “But then I decided I wanted to see you again. I hope that was okay.”</p><p>She worried her lip and nodded. “It’s okay. It’s nice, even. I’ve been locked up in here the past few days with little company. It was getting lonely.” She watched the eyes crinkle in what seemed like a frowning expression.</p><p>“They keep you locked up too? But why?”</p><p>And there it was. The question Marinette had no answer for. The one she’d been trying not to think too much about and couldn’t stop thinking about at the same time.</p><p>“I don’t know,” she admitted. “One of the other people like me got really sick and that was a few days ago. They haven’t let me out since. They say it’s for my safety.”</p><p>“The doctors?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“They tend to lie,” he sighed. “I don’t think they’re the good kind of doctors, not after some of the stuff I’ve seen lately.”</p><p>“I’m starting to realize that.” The subject made her too uneasy so she focused on what she had control over in the moment. She tilted her head and studied the green cat-like eyes. “Are you like the Cheshire Cat?”</p><p>The eyes blinked. “What?”</p><p>“Are you just a pair of floating eyes? That’s all I can see.” She leaned forward a bit to show he had her attention. “Or are you just hiding?”</p><p>There was a shuffling sound as if he was moving backwards. “I’m...I don’t want to scare you so I think I’ll just stay in the shadows.”</p><p>“I don’t scare easily,” Marinette lied, ignoring her racing heart. She leaned back and braced her hands behind her on the bed. “I promise I won’t be scared. Come on, it’d be nice to see who I’m talking to.”</p><p>“I don’t think so.” </p><p>She frowned in his direction. “Will you at least tell me your name?”</p><p>“I don’t really know it,” he confessed, embarrassment obvious in his tone. “One of the first memories I have is someone calling me Chat Noir so I guess that’s what I’ve started considering my name, but I think I had one before that.” He let out a laugh that held no humor. “But the people here call me Oh-one-three, so I guess maybe that’s my real name.”</p><p>“Oh-one-three? Like zero-thirteen? Is there something I’m missing?”</p><p>“I’m not sure if it’s a joke or just bad luck honestly. If it’s supposed to be a joke, I think it’s along the lines of black cats and unlucky number thirteen and that sorta thing.”</p><p>“And you’re a black cat?” She kept herself for diving for the tuft of soft black fur she had hidden in her pillowcase. She had to be hallucinating all of this. There was no way she was talking to a life-size black cat while she was stuck in her suite. </p><p>“I don’t know what I am.” The eyes sharpened as they focused on her. “Enough about me though. Tell me why you’re in this place.”</p><p>Marinette shifted uneasily and looked around the room for a distraction as she spoke. “I was told my blood has really good antibodies in it that can fight the virus making so many people sick, so I volunteered to move here for a while while the scientists work on a cure. Are they scientists or doctors or both? I feel like I say the wrong thing, but I also think I’ve heard both used. It’s confusing, huh?”</p><p>“It was your blood?” </p><p>The eyes moved closer and Marinette caught the outline of dark triangle shaped ears. She swallowed hard. </p><p>“What...um, what was my blood?”</p><p>“It made me so happy,” he replied, almost dreamily. The shadows lifted away as if they’d been a blanket covering him.</p><p>Marinette stared at the young man kneeling in the corner. Black, fur-lined cat ears rose up out of a mess of blonde and black hair. The green eyes didn’t glow so much without the shadows but they were still brilliant with the dark markings jutting out from around them to cover half of a smooth, pale face. He gave her an unfocused smile as he shifted so he could move slightly closer and she caught sight of delicate fangs.</p><p>“You really are like a cat,” she whispered. She stood and went to the other side of bed so the furniture was between them. The glazed look in his eyes was making it hard to stay calm. “I don’t think any of this is real,” she said aloud, hoping it would make it true.</p><p>Chat Noir’s fluffy black tail lashed out behind him as he moved forward a bit more. “You smell really nice,” he murmured. “Like bread and sunshine.”</p><p>“Let’s, uh, let’s keep some space between us, okay? I don’t really know you.” Marinette held her hands up as if that would protect her somehow. The cat creature only had to round the corner of the bed and he could pounce on her. “Please just stop. I don’t want to have to hurt you.”</p><p>He was suddenly up on the bed in one fluid movement and he rolled onto his back, slinging an arm over his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “Give me a second to clear my head and I’ll leave you alone.”</p><p>She eyed the dangerous dark claws that stretched out from the ends of his fingers and took a few more steps back. “What just happened to you?”</p><p>“I think I got a little contact high.” He laughed another humorless laugh and peeked from beneath his arm at her. “I really am sorry. Could you maybe move away just to be safe?”</p><p>“It’s okay.” She honestly wasn’t sure if it was okay or not but it was an automatic response and she did as he asked.</p><p>Chat Noir sat up and rolled back off the bed, moving to his corner. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’ll try not to come back.” And before she could respond, he was gone with a pop.</p><p>Marinette stared at the corner that was now dimly lit, not a shadow to be seen. So he could manipulate them somehow. Maybe this was all some sort of drug-induced dream, a hallucination she was having.</p><p>She walked closer to see if he’d left more fur this time so she could remind herself that she wasn’t crazy, but instead of fur, she saw a neat stack of books pushed against the wall. They definitely weren’t hers and no one had come this far into her room since her quarantine. </p><p>She lifted one and cracked open the cover, noticing a single black hair stuck to the page. She stood and took the book to her bed, thankful for the distraction.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Disguise</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You’ve been gone for hours.”</p><p>Marinette schooled her expression to hide her surprise as she turned away from the door her nurse escort had just closed behind her. “They finally let me out of my room. Nathalie’s feeling better now so the quarantine on the facility is over...mostly, I guess.” She tilted her head to study the catboy crouched in the far corner of the suite. “How long have you been here?”</p><p>He shrugged, not meeting her eyes.</p><p>“Thought you weren’t coming back.” She went to her bed and sat on the edge, putting them both in the same positions they were the last time. She felt a little wary remembering the way he’d changed so quickly before but she’d pay more attention this time. </p><p>“Wasn’t,” Chat Noir mumbled.</p><p>“And?”</p><p>He scowled at the carpet. “Don’t really have anywhere to go.”</p><p>Her heart ached a little at at that but she tried to garner a smile. “Then you’re welcome to stay as long as you don’t go all weird again.”</p><p>His head shot up like she’d slapped him. “Are you scared of me now?”</p><p>Marinette pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I don’t think scared is the right word. I’m cautious.”</p><p>“That’s fair.” He was back to looking at the ground, one claw tracing a pattern into the plush carpet.</p><p>A thick silence fell between them so Marinette cleared her throat and stood to walk around the bed. “I have your books. I’ve been reading them. I hope that’s okay.”</p><p>“I was hoping you kept them. They’re kinda all I have. One of the orderlies gave them to me.” He glanced at her through the mess of dark and light hair hanging over his eyes. “Do you have a favorite?”</p><p>She grinned. “I’ll hold out until I read them all, but there is definitely a front-runner. I’m going to try to stay unbiased though.”</p><p>He laughed softly and Marinette found she wanted to be the cause of him making that sound again. It was such a gentle laugh, almost timid, as if he didn’t use it very often.</p><p>“Everyone is looking for me,” he said after a long pause. “I probably shouldn’t stay here.” His tail flicked out behind him angrily. “I don’t exactly blend in and a disguise isn’t going to work.”</p><p>“No one really pays attention to me when I’m in here,” she offered. “So I don’t mind if you hang out until you have a plan.”</p><p>“What about you? How long are you going to be here at the facility?”</p><p>Marinette struggled not to let her mind fall into the pit she’d had to climb out of the last few days. “I honestly have no idea. I really want to go home. I even asked if it was a possibility, but apparently flights are still being really limited so it’ll be a while before I can get to Paris.”</p><p>Chat Noir tilted his head curiously. “But you think they’ll really let you go?”</p><p>She blinked. “I...of course they will.”</p><p>“I hope so.” The tone of his voice was less than comforting.</p><p>Feeling the need to warm up from a cold that had nothing to do with the temperature, Marinette slid up the bed until she felt the headboard against her back. She hugged one of her pillows to her chest as Chat Noir watched her through his long bangs. </p><p>“Will you tell me why they keep you here?” she asked quietly.</p><p>He clenched his jaw. “Isn’t it obvious?”</p><p>“Did they...did someone here do this to you?” Marinette worried her lip. “I know vaccines are created here so I didn’t know if maybe--”</p><p>“I was already like this when they got me,” he growled, cutting her off.</p><p>She swallowed hard and nodded, clutching her pillow a little tighter. Chat Noir noticed the gesture and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.</p><p>“It’s a long story.”</p><p>Marinette gave him half a shrug and loosened her grip on the pillow just a little. “I’m pretty sure we’ve got time.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Don't Tell Me What to Do</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for hanging in there with me! I know this story is behind and slow-going but I'm trying my best. I appreciate the sweet comments I've gotten. Thank you! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I think I was normal once.” Chat Noir stretched languidly and rolled onto his back to sink down into the plush carpet. It felt good but the more pleasing effect from his show was the way Marinette giggled from her spot up on the bed. </p><p>“I’ll have to take your word for it,” she teased as he grinned at her, his head upside down from her perspective.</p><p>He knew he could easily transition the conversation into something else; he’d done it plenty of times with Pierce. He could forgo his tragic backstory and just enjoy this bubble of time he got to spend with Marinette in this messed up place.</p><p>But he really should be honest with her.</p><p>“I think...I’m supposed to be a monster, well, more of one anyway.” He lifted one hand up and watched the lamplight filter between his dark claws. “But something went wrong...or maybe right? I didn’t end up like the others.”</p><p>The joy in Marinette’s eyes has been replaced with an emotion he couldn’t quite place.</p><p>“Uh, there were...I don’t know how to explain them other than calling them beasts, but it feels wrong. They were humans once...like me.” He cleared his throat and trained his eyes on a spot on the ceiling just to the left of an embedded light. “There was this woman and she wanted...I’m don’t know what she wanted really but she was furious.”</p><p>“The witch,” Marinette whispered.</p><p>Chat Noir rolled back over onto his stomach and blinked up at her in surprise. “What?”</p><p>“The, um...” She swallowed audibly and shook her head as if trying to gather her thoughts. “The little boy I told you about, Ozzie? The first day we met he said everyone got sick because there was a witch that sent out black cats with the virus.”</p><p>His skin flushed with freezing cold adrenaline. “He knew?”</p><p>Marinette tilted forward, wide-eyed as she stared at him. “It’s true?! How can that possibly be true?!”</p><p>“I don’t know!” He sat up and held his hands in front of him in a defensive gesture but slowly lowered them before he felt the destructive power start to warm his palm. He hated that his first reaction had been to think that his new friend was going to attack him. “I mean...like I said, there was a woman who did this, and yeah, all the other ones were cat-like. And obviously...” He trailed off and waved at himself as explanation. “I don’t know if she was a witch, but she could definitely do some crazy stuff.”</p><p>“I think I was taken at some point, kidnapped, I guess? Is that the right word even if I’m not a kid?” He sighed. “Not that I actually know how old I am but I think I’m older than a kid.”</p><p>“I’m nineteen if that helps, and I’ve kinda been thinking of you as my age.”</p><p>He met Marinette’s eyes and felt suddenly reassured. She wasn’t repulsed or angry or any of the other things he was expecting. He gave her a grateful nod.</p><p>“Yeah, that helps, thanks.” He took in a deep breath, trying not to remember the hate-filled green cat eyes of the woman who’d irrevocably changed him. “She was angry and she wanted the world to pay. She just...she felt like one of those people who wants to take their pain out on others?” He looked to Marinette again and she nodded in understanding.</p><p>“I don’t really remember much about what happened,” he admitted. “It was terrible waking up like this and I was in a different place than before. I think I must’ve seen the beasts before she turned me?” His face screwed up in confusion.  “Sometimes I remember a cage.”</p><p>“She was angry at me. She said I was wrong and that I wouldn’t work.” He looked down at his claws and felt the familiar and horrible sensation of bile rising in his throat. “I couldn’t get people sick like the others.” He didn’t dare look up at Marinette now. “She had hostages...I guess people she wasn’t going to turn. She made me...” He clenched his jaw shut. He didn’t want to say the rest. He didn’t want to see her reaction when she found out he’d killed people. It was accidental, of course, but he could still see the terror in their faces when he tried to sleep. Instead of the sickness the woman had conjured up that would eat people up from the inside out, he destroyed them with a single touch.</p><p>He wished he’d followed the temptation to change the subject when he had the chance.</p><p>There was a sound from the bed and then the tantalizing smell of fresh-baked bread was surrounding him as Marinette crouched down in front of him and reached out for a hug, gauging his reaction as she moved.</p><p>He swallowed and could almost taste the sweetness he experienced from the injection of her blood. “You shouldn’t be this close,” he said, voice almost a whimper. “Move back; I’m dangerous.”</p><p>“Don’t tell me what to do,” she snapped back and put her arms around him. “I think I can trust you.” </p><p>He stiffened in her hold but the warmth seeping into his skin where her hands clasped against the middle of his spine was too much to bear and he melted into her touch with a sob.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for sticking around! I'm still trying to muddle my way through and hopefully finish this one at some point :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I wish you were home, girl. Things are so weird here.” Alya frowned at Marinette through the computer screen. “I mean, they’re the same as they have been for a while, but we just found out we’re only doing virtual classes in a few weeks and it’s just not how I saw my last year of university going, ya know? I know it’s not as important in the big scheme of things, but it’s still a bummer.”</p><p>“Yeah, I was talking to one of the nurses about that today. I'm hoping I can actually take some classes while I’m here. I definitely have the free time for it.” Marinette huffed in agitation. “I want to come home too though. I miss everyone.”</p><p>“Everyone misses you.” Alya’s expression softened. “Are you okay, really? You could tell me if you’re not.”</p><p>Marinette glanced over at her bed and caught Chat Noir watching her. He quickly returned his attention to the book in his hands and she couldn’t help her smile as she looked at the computer screen once more. “I’m okay. Ready to get out of here, but the company is nice.” She saw the black furry tail hanging off the side of the bed twitch at her comment.</p><p>“I wish they would send you home. They must have buckets of your blood, by now, if that’s really what they need.”</p><p>“Alya!” Marinette shook her head with a surprised laugh. “But yeah, it definitely feels that way. I don’t know. I’m trying to stay patient...”</p><p>“But?”</p><p>She lifted her hand to her mouth and chewed on her thumbnail without giving an answer.</p><p>Alya nodded and held up one finger though she started speaking again. “Hey, girl. Did I tell you the Chris brought a kitten home? Nino’s fallen in love with the thing. Won’t surprise me if it ends up living with us when we get the apartment.” Her voice was light as she hastily scribbled on a notepad on the screen. </p><p>“A kitten, really?” Marinette swallowed hard when her best friend held up the notepad.</p><p>“DO YOU NEED HELP?” was written in large, bold letters.</p><p>She held Alya’s gaze for a long moment before mouthing back, “I don’t know.”</p><p>“You should call your parents soon, just to check in,” Alya said, voice light and airy still. “They told me they were looking into bringing you home for at least a visit so definitely check with them.”</p><p>“Will do. Thanks. I love you, Al.”</p><p>“Love you too.”</p><p>They shared another look before Marinette reluctantly ended the connection. </p><p>“Your friend is smart,” Chat Noir commented, losing all pretense of reading his book. He rolled on his stomach and looked at her. “She knows something’s up with this place.”</p><p>“We don’t even know what’s up with this place,” Marinette pointed out. “You thought they were trying to cure you and there was some mad, magic woman who made a bunch of big cats to get people sick? And as far as I knew, this was some sort of virus that got out of control and went global and I’m here because my blood has special antibodies that can help with a vaccine.”</p><p>She tapped her finger against her lips as she thought aloud. “Of course, both of those things could still be true.”</p><p>“You think the crazy woman did create me and the others to get people sick?”</p><p>“I think...I think maybe someone created this virus in a lab or...or I don’t know, maybe it mutated from another virus? And I think what you remember happening to you is true too. I don’t think they have to be mutually exclusive.”</p><p>“Either way, you and I are stuck here, huh?” The black ears atop his head drooped and Marinette went to the bed to sit on the edge. Chat Noir sat up but didn’t quite meet her gaze as he moved to make more room for her.</p><p>“It’s nice to be stuck together if we have to be stuck.” She gently flicked the tip of his ear and it twitched back upright. “And I don’t know if whatever they’re using my blood for will really help, but I hope it will.”<br/>_____</p><p>“Is oh-one-three still in Dupain-Cheng’s room?”</p><p>“Yes, sir.”</p><p>“Has he deviated to any other rooms since his last appearance?”</p><p>“No, sir. He hasn’t left the room for forty-three consecutive hours now.”</p><p>“Very good.”</p><p>A lab technician watched through the security camera screen as Marinette rested her head on Chat Noir’s shoulder and his lips moved as if reading aloud from the book he held before them. </p><p>“Tests will commence at sunrise,” the lead technician announced. “Everyone be ready. There’s no telling how the beast will react.”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>